Two more California universities are under investigation over alleged antisemitism as House Republicans expand their widespread probe to the University of California.
The Republican-led House Education and Workforce Committee alerted the University of California at San Francisco and University of California at Los Angeles medical schools this week that it had become aware of allegations that “Jewish students and faculty have experienced hostility and fear” at the campuses.
“It has not been demonstrated that the university has meaningfully responded to address and mitigate this problem,” committee chair Tim Walberg, a Republican representative from Michigan, said in a letter to UCSF Monday.
UCSF did not respond to a request for comment.
The committee gave the schools two weeks to submit approximately four years worth of documents related to antisemitism complaints and allegations, investigations, trainings and class materials.
The investigations come as UC officials and the Justice Department have begun negotiations over allegations that the UCLA campus has been hostile to Jewish students, staff and faculty members. The Trump administration cut more than half a billion dollars in UCLA research grants and demanded an additional $1 billion fine and major campus changes to settle the antisemitism claims. Gov. Gavin Newsom described the administration’s demands as “extortion” and said the state will sue to protect the UC system.
Since President Donald Trump returned to office in January, his administration has opened more than 111 investigations into colleges and universities, including at least 18 investigations into California universities and two investigations into the California Department of Education.
The Trump administration’s widespread investigations into colleges and universities lack a consistent goal or desire, said Jon Fansmith, the senior vice president of government relations and national engagement at the higher education nonprofit the American Council on Education
“I think what they’re doing is identifying a lot of schools that are name brand, that are well-known to the public,” Fansmith said. “These schools are overwhelmingly in blue states, often in cities — predominantly Democratic cities — and they are using tools they don’t legally have the authority to use to compel a victory over those schools.”
Many of those investigations involve allegations of antisemitism on U.S. and California university campuses.
UC Berkeley is one of 10 universities expecting a visit from the Department of Justice’s antisemitism task force and UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara are also included in a list of 60 universities facing civil rights investigations into antisemitism on their campuses.
The University of California is also facing a DoJ investigation over claims the university system allowed an “antisemitic hostile work environment” on its campuses.
The House committee letter to UCSF included several allegations of antisemitism on the university’s campus, including allegations that Jewish students and patients have intentionally hid their Jewish identities on campus or when seeking medical care; that UCSF students, professors, doctors and lab technicians have made antisemitic comments to Jewish students and patients or posted antisemitic comments online; that UCSF faculty members included antisemtic materials in class materials; and that the campus’s cancer center was defaced with antisemitic language invoking the Holocaust.
The letter also alleged that after Jewish faculty expressed concerns about antisemitism, UCSF referred them to a counselor for support, who had also allegedly posted antisemitic remarks online.
Walberg’s letter to UCSF and UCLA said the committee is investigating whether the schools violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color and national origin in programs and activities receiving federal funds. The letter said that under Title VI, “even speech that is protected by the First Amendment may contribute to an unlawful hostile environment.”
Walberg’s letter said the investigation will “aid the committee in considering whether potential legislative changes, including legislation to specifically address antisemitic discrimination are needed.”
Fansmith said that while the federal government and House committee have a responsibility to ensure schools are complying with civil rights laws, the Trump administration’s increased scrutiny of schools and demands of institutions is much more extreme than “standard operating procedure.”
“What we’ve seen…is a really unprecedented weaponization of these kinds of concerns in this kind of oversight authority and certainly particularly given the administration’s extra legal efforts to freeze funding and make demands of institutions,” Fansmith said. “These are things that are far, far, far from the norm that are very concerning, that are very damaging, that are very much outside not only norms and precedents, but what the law dictates.”
The investigation comes as other Bay Area schools are facing lawsuits and investigations over alleged antisemitism on their campuses.
Stanford University is also included in the list of 60 universities under investigation for antisemitic harassment and discrimination. The university is also facing a lawsuit over allegations the school permitted “an environment saturated with intimidation and harassment of Jewish and Israeli students to flourish on campus.” The lawsuit alleges Jewish Israeli post-doctoral researcher, Shay Laps, faced discrimination and “insidious, malicious” conduct intended to “permanently tarnish his reputation and career.”
In a statement, Stanford University said the university takes any allegation of antisemitism very seriously and said a “thorough internal investigation” found Laps’ allegations were unsubstantiated.
An Israeli professor also sued the University of California after UC Berkeley allegedly blocked her from teaching because the situation at the school was too “hot” after Hamas attacked Israel and Israel retaliated. The lawsuit alleges a seven-month internal UC Berkeley investigation found the school discriminated against professor Yael Nativ because she was Israeli.
UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof said the school generally doesn’t comment on litigation and added he could not discuss personnel matters.
